PARIS, February 4. /TASS/. French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Moscow at the beginning of the next week, as well as his later trip to Kiev, will mark Paris’ continued efforts to de-escalate the situation around Ukraine, French cabinet spokesman Gabriel Attal told reporters on Friday.
"We will not hesitate to make any efforts that are necessary for de-escalation. This is why the president will travel to Russia and Ukraine early next week," he said.
"We have taken note of the serious progress made in the past weeks, which was particularly highlighted by a very important meeting between the political advisors of the Normandy Four countries’ leaders (Russia, Germany, Ukraine, France) that took place in Paris over ten days ago," Attal stressed. He noted that the talks "made it possible to reiterate the importance of the ceasefire and de-escalation obligations."
On Thursday, France initiated a telephone conversation between Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The parties discussed issues related to the situation around Ukraine and Moscow’s talks with the US and NATO on security guarantees. Earlier, Putin and Macron held phone calls on January 28 and 31. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters later that the presidents of Russia and France were expected to hold talks in Moscow on February 7.